Event Detail

Fri Sep 21, 2007
5101 Tolman Hall
11:30 AM–1:30 PM
Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Evan Heit (Cognitive Science, UC Merced )
ROC and Reasoning

Reasoning can be conceived of as a signal detection task, in which the goal is to distinguish good arguments from bad arguments. With this conception, analytical tools from other areas of research, such as memory research, can be applied to reasoning, including signal detection theory (SDT) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. These tools are applied to reasoning experiments with the aim of addressing a central issue in reasoning research, namely are there two kinds of reasoning. Researchers have debated whether a single model should apply to all of reasoning or if there are different reasoning systems roughly corresponding to deduction and induction. The applications of SDT and ROC help to settle this debate and pave the way for improved models of reasoning.